The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales

Ruth Musick

Publication Year: 2010

" West Virginia boasts an unusually rich heritage of ghost tales. Originally West Virginians told these hundred stories not for idle amusement but to report supernatural experiences that defied ordinary human explanation. From jealous rivals and ghostly children to murdered kinsmen and omens of death, these tales reflect the inner lives—the hopes, beliefs, and fears—of a people. Like all folklore, these tales reveal much of the history of the region: its isolation and violence, the passions and bloodshed of the Civil War era, the hardships of miners and railroad laborers, and the lingering vitality of Old World traditions.

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Contents

Introduction

Anyone who has ever lived in West Virginia, or even
traveled through the state, can easily see what an
ideal place it would be for ghosts. It is an unending
sequence of hills and valleys, with a backdrop of other
mountains in the distance. Over all these mountains and ...

1. Jealous Rivals

Although I have included only seven fairly short tales
in this section, I have a number of love-triangle ghosts.
As I think over the tales I have, and the ones I know about,
there seem to be far more situations where two men fall in
love with the same woman than where the roles are ...

2. Wives Who Return

Most ghost wives were in life mistreated, sometimes
murdered, women, and their return is usually prompted
by a desire to revenge themselves upon their former
spouses. Two of the stories here, as well as others included
in different sections, have examples of this kind ...

3. Ghostly Children

It is hard to believe that so many children have been
murdered or abused to the point of death without anyone
to help them. Yet the greater part of the stories of ghost
children I have collected depict such circumstances.
Naturally, these little ghosts come back in anger—to ...

4. Murdered Kinsmen

None of the victims of these unnatural murders come
back with good intentions, but rather with ill will
in their hearts for their relative murderers. Who can
blame them? Murdering one's own flesh and blood is
traditionally one of the most repugnant crimes, and a ...

5. Omens of Death

There is an old superstition that white animals are omens
of death, and three of the stories in this section are
representative of this belief. The most frequently used
animal is a white horse. Perhaps the prominence of the
horse in this connection goes back to the common depiction ...

6. Deadly Visions

Death warnings, usually in the form of dreams or
sudden visions of a person who is ill or absent, are
particularly interesting, since there can be little doubt of
the sincerity of the teller of such experiences. Such
experiences have been reported down through the ages ...

7. Headless Ghosts

The headless ghost is undoubtedly one of the most
popular figures in ghost stories, judging by the number
of times he appears. In almost every collection of tales
there will be one or more headless ghosts. This particular
kind of ghost also illustrates the problem of arrangement ...

8. Hidden Money

Considering all the ghosts that return, or at least make
themselves visible, for the sole purpose of pointing
out hidden wealth, it seems that ghosts should be less feared
and more appreciated. These money-minded ghosts go to
a lot of trouble to help some living human being to a ...

9. Haunted Places

Considered in one way, stories of haunted houses and
places are the most numerous of ghost stories, for one
may think of any place where a ghost appears as being
haunted. In the stories given here the existence of the
haunting itself seemed more important than other elements ...

10. Negro Slaves

It may be that the tales in this group represent a category
that is slowly disappearing, since the institution which
created it no longer exists. Or it may be that these unfortunate
souls are so bitter that their spirits may wander
for a long time yet. I had thought there were few such ...

11. Murdered Peddlers

West Virginia is unusually rich in tales of murdered
peddlers and in the ghosts of these unfortunate men.
Though only four selections are included here, I have
collected more stories in this category than in any other.
Traveling alone with all his goods on his back through ...

12. Mine Ghosts

There have been hundreds of mine accidents in West
Virginia, with undoubtedly many more victims-nearly
four hundred were killed in one accident alone-and the
dark passageways of the coal mines are indeed likely places
for ghosts and visitations. Perhaps it is no wonder then ...

13. Railroad Ghosts

Most of the railroad ghosts go back fifty or more years
when new tracks were being laid and bridges and
tunnels built and before modern safety devices and methods
of operation were used. In those days accidents on the
railroad were common and no doubt figured largely in the ...

14. Animals and Birds

The bird and animal ghosts here are not human spirits
who have returned in another form but are manifestations
of actual creatures. There are possible exceptions;
the mysterious sound of the nursing sow may be associated
with the baby's death, and the appearance of the black

15. Weird Creatures

The creatures in these stories are difficult to identify
or explain. Unlike ordinary ghosts, which have some
kind of rationale, creatures seem to have no connection with
the real world. They sometimes resemble real animals, but
are never quite like them, and frequently they are seen ...

16. Immigrant Ghosts

West Virginia, with the many diverse nationalities
brought in by mining, is rich in the number of
European ghost tales which may be found there. The five
tales included here are a selection from a much larger
number I have collected and are presented as typical ...

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